Château de Villandry: The Pinnacle of Renaissance Gardens

Jean Le Breton and the Italian Inspiration

Acquired in the 1530s by Jean Le Breton, Finance Minister to François I, Villandry replaced an older medieval fortress where King Philip Augustus of France once negotiated peace with Henry II of England in 1189. Le Breton, having served as French ambassador to Rome, applied Italian Renaissance balance and pure symmetry to the new building.

The Six Tiered Gardens and the Kitchen Parterre

Rescued from dereliction in 1906 by Spanish doctor Joachim Carvallo and his American heiress wife Ann Coleman, the gardens were meticulously restored to authentic 16th-century patterns. Today, six terraces step down the hillside:

• The Sun Garden: Perched on the highest terrace with a meadow-like sunburst fountain.
• The Water Garden: Classic Louis XV pond shaped like a mirror of water framed by linden trees.
• The Ornamental Garden (The Four Loves): Boxwood hedges sculpted into four allegorical heart patterns: Tender Love, Passionate Love, Fickle Love, and Tragic Love.
• The Ornamental Kitchen Garden (Le Potager): Nine symmetrical squares blending 40 vegetable species with rose trees and boxwood in a vibrant living quilt.

Detailed Tour of the Six Renaissance Garden Terraces

Villandry's gardens are laid out across three stepped levels carved into the hillside between the castle and the Cher river valley. Walking through each terrace reveals distinct symbolic and botanical themes:

• The Ornamental Garden (The Four Loves): Located directly below the castle salons, this terrace features boxwood hedges clipped into intricate geometric representations of four romantic conditions. Tender Love displays hearts separated by carnival masks; Passionate Love forms hearts broken by passion in a whirling dance; Fickle Love features fans and butterfly wings symbolizing fleeting affections; and Tragic Love represents dueling sword blades and red blossoms evoking bloodshed.
• The Water Garden (Jardin d'Eau): Situated on the middle terrace above the boxwood parterres, this classical French expanse is centered around an expansive mirror-like pond in the shape of a Louis XV water mirror, fed by natural springs and surrounded by an avenue of clipped pleached linden trees.
• The Sun Garden (Jardin du Soleil): The highest terrace, laid out in 2008 following original sketches by Joachim Carvallo, centered around an eight-pointed sunburst basin with meadow wildflowers, walnut trees, and yellow-orange perennials.
• The Labyrinth: A charming circular maze of hornbeam hedges designed for contemplative strolls and family exploration.
• The Herb Garden (Jardin des Simples): Dedicated to medicinal, aromatic, and culinary plants cultivated in monasteries throughout the Middle Ages, including hyssop, sage, lavender, and wormwood.
• The Kitchen Garden (Le Potager): The crown jewel of Villandry, spanning nine identical squares, each laid out with completely distinct geometric patterns of multicolored cabbages, leeks, beetroot, blue leeks, and ruby chard bordered by dwarf fruit trees and rose standards.

Joachim Carvallo and the Heroic 1906 Restoration

By the late 19th century, Villandry had been converted into an English-style landscape park with weeping willows, meandering gravel paths, and artificial mounds that completely buried the original Renaissance layout. In 1906, Spanish biomedical researcher Joachim Carvallo and his wife Ann Coleman purchased the crumbling estate. Abandoning a promising scientific career in Paris, Carvallo dedicated his life and fortune to uncovering the authentic 16th-century architectural foundations.

Consulting historical land surveys, archeological excavations, and the architectural treatises of Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, Carvallo tore down modern alterations and reconstructed the six tiered Renaissance terraces. Today, his great-grandson Henri Carvallo continues to manage the estate, preserving Joachim's original vision while pioneering 100% organic, pesticide-free horticultural methods across its 52 kilometers of pruned boxwood hedges.

Photography Tips and the Belvedere Lookout

To capture the iconic panoramic view of the nine ornamental vegetable squares, head through the woods past the water garden and ascend the stone steps up to the belvedere viewpoint on the hillside. Arriving around 10:00 or 16:30 gives ideal angled lighting that emphasizes the deep contrast between the dark boxwood borders and the colorful vegetable foliage. Broad-angle lenses (24mm or 28mm equivalent) are necessary to encompass the full scale of the parterres.